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Hundreds to Mourn Alison Russo — EMS Vet, 9/11 Responder and Mom — at Long Island Funeral

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Hundreds of colleagues, family members and friends are expected to fill a concert hall on Long Island later Wednesday to mourn the 61-year-old veteran EMS lieutenant, World Trade Center first responder and mother who was stabbed to death in a gruesome act of random violence on a Queens sidewalk last week.

The service for Alison Russo is scheduled for 11 a.m. at the Tilles Center for Performing Arts in Nassau County’s Brookville. (Watch the remembrance live here when it begins.)

The 25-year EMS member was stabbed more than 20 times in an unprovoked, come-from-behind attack when she went to get food by her Astoria stationhouse last Thursday. Her accused killer has a history of mental illness and lives near the station where Russo spent so many years serving the community.

A memorial outside that stationhouse has only grown in the days since the attack. Mourners paid tribute there last week with bagpipes and a moment of silence, a somber eloquent tribute to the woman officials say embodied EMS’ moniker of New York’s Best. Neighbors left flowers at the corner of 20th Street and Steinway, where Russo was killed.

Romney Smith has all the updates you need to know.

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There were also remembrances at the Volunteer Ambulance Squad, where Russo served on her days off. Neighbors said she loved outdoor activities, but talked most about her job with the FDNY EMS.

Russo leaves behind a daughter, Danielle Fuoco, who spoke to reporters outside of her mom’s home on Long Island.

“Keep my mother in your thoughts, pray for my family, and remember her for the hero that she was,” Fuoco said.

Russo served with EMS for 25 years — and was among those who raced into the Twin Towers on Sept. 11, 2001, Acting FDNY Commissioner Laura Kavanaugh said. The 61-year-old was “cited multiple times for her bravery and her life-saving work, and she was absolutely beloved on this job,” Kavanaugh added.

Russo was the 1,158th member of the FDNY to die in the line of duty, and the second EMS to die in the line of duty in the last five years.

“We lost one of our heroes,” Mayor Eric Adams said at a press conference from the hospital where Russo was taken on the day she died. “She was working for this city, and paid the ultimate sacrifice because of that.”

New York Gov. Kathy Hochul directed flags on state buildings be flown at half-staff in honor of the slain EMS lieutenant.

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Alison Russo-Elling , 61, was a World Trade Center first responder and 25-year veteran EMS member who was stabbed in a come-from-behind attack by a stranger when she went to get food by her Astoria stationhouse. She is survived by a daughter.

Peter Zisopoulos, the 34-year-old Queens man accused of stabbing Russo, did not speak to reporters after he was taken into custody. He was brought to a hospital for a psychiatric evaluation and has documented history of schizophrenia, which is how he’s connected to the stationhouse where Russo worked.

The last time he was hospitalized, he was transported by members of the very same station.

Zisopoulos ran away after the stabbing — but two witnesses knew him, and one of them chased him into his 41st Street building, police said. He barricaded himself in his third-floor apartment for about 90 minutes before he was eventually coaxed out without further incident, police officials said.

He has been charged with murder and weapon possession in the case and had no prior criminal history.

Attorney information for Zisopoulos wasn’t clear.

Tracie Strahan coming to you live from Queens with all the updates you need to know.

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Source: NBC New York

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